France has named Chiyo Ishikawa, the Seattle Art Museum’s deputy director and curator of European painting and sculpture, a chevalier of its Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. The award recognizes Ishikawa’s contributions to French culture, and has also been given to Zanele Muholi, Tim Griffin, and David Lang, among others.

Ishikawa has worked at the Seattle Art Museum since 1990. In her time there, she has organized shows of Impressionist works held by European institutions, works by Picasso from the collection of the Musée National Picasso in France, materials related to Paul Gauguin’s travels in Polynesia, and clothes designed by Yves Saint Laurent.

In a statement, Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens, the French consul general of San Francisco, said, “Chiyo Ishikawa could not be more deserving of the title.”